This Application claims priority of Taiwan Application No. 100138221, filed on Oct. 21, 2011, and the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to electronic systems and related management methods, and, more particularly to electronic systems with a plurality of devices that are connected in a daisy-chain configuration and related management methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with vigorous development of computers and communications industry, various peripheral devices can easily be connected to a host device such as a personal computer (PC), a notebook PC and so on, including internet and external storage devices and so on. Further, for the peripheral devices, in addition to original functions, different functions can be appropriately set to support different capabilities. For example, assume that two hard discs are included in a peripheral device, the two hard discs can be separately utilized as a common hard disc directly or commonly set as a disk array (RAID), wherein one of the hard discs can be served as the RAID mirror of another hard disc. However, the change of settings of system or software, all need to go through software user interfaces, the user usually requires to manually change various software settings, so that various functions of peripheral devices can be used. For example, assume that the user has two hard discs, when the user wants to set a RAID with these two discs, a series of software setting steps are required to change the related settings, so that these two hard discs can be equipped with RAID mirror function. When other users use this computer, often not knowing why with two hard discs, whereas only one hard disc can be seen from the system, and the user needs to operate a RAID software, so that it can be found that these two hard discs had already been set as RAID with RAID mirror function. In addition, the system settings can not be found from the visual appearance by the user, leading to quite inconvenient in use.
Electronic systems and management methods using the same are provided.
In an embodiment, a management method of an electronic system having electronic devices and a host device connected in a daisy-chain configuration is provided, wherein the host device has a configuration setting. The management method of the electronic system comprises the steps of detecting an arrangement sequence of the host device and the electronic devices and adjusting the configuration setting of the host device according to the detected arrangement sequence of the host device and the electronic devices such that the host device uses the electronic devices to perform a specific operation corresponding to the detected arrangement sequence.
Another embodiment of an electronic system comprises a plurality of electronic devices and a host device. The host device and the electronic devices are connected in a daisy-chain configuration. The host device has a configuration setting and is used for detecting an arrangement sequence of the host device and the electronic devices and adjusting the configuration setting of the host device according to the detected arrangement sequence of the host device and the electronic devices such that the host device uses the electronic devices to perform a specific operation corresponding to the detected arrangement sequence.
Another embodiment of a host device connected to a plurality of electronic devices in a daisy-chain configuration comprises a detection unit and a configuration and adjustment module. The detection unit is arranged for detecting an arrangement sequence of the host device and the electronic devices. The configuration and adjustment module is coupled to the detection unit and is arranged for receiving the detected arrangement sequence of the host device and the electronic devices and adjusting the configuration setting of the host device according to the detected arrangement sequence of the host device and the electronic devices such that the host device uses the electronic devices to perform a specific operation corresponding to the detected arrangement sequence.
Management methods may take the form of a program code embodied in a tangible media. When the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the disclosed method.
The invention will become more fully understood by referring to the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The following description is of the best-contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims.
Embodiments of the invention provide electronic systems and related device management methods capable of automatically modifying software settings of connected hardware devices in accordance with any variation of corresponding arrangement position of connection of external electronic devices or activating new software application generated in accordance with the connection order.
The host device 110 may further include a connecting end 112, a connecting end 114, a detection unit 116 and a configuration and adjustment unit 118. The connecting end 112 or 114 can be equipped with a connecting interface such as a high speed transmission interface for connecting to the responsive connecting end of the electronic device with same connecting interface. The detection unit 116 is arranged for detecting and monitoring an arrangement sequence among the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130 which are serially connected/cascaded to each other and the host device 110 and issue a message to the configuration and adjustment unit 118 when detecting a change in the arrangement sequence among the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130. Because the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130 are connected in a daisy chain configuration, various configuration sequences may be generated by exchanging their cascaded position of the arrangement sequence among the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130. Please refer to
Note that the number, the type and the arrangement sequence of the electronic devices are provided for illustration, but are not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the electronic system 100 may include more than two electronic devices and thus the electronic system 100 may have more combinations of possible arrangement sequence.
The configuration and adjustment unit 118 which is coupled to the detection unit 116 is arranged for adjusting related system configuration setting values according to the arrangement sequence data detected by the detection unit 116. The host device 110 may have a configuration setting for setting the configurations of the electronic devices 120 and 130 to determine the use manners of the electronic devices 120 and 130. For example, the electronic devices 120 and 130 may be arranged for performing a first operation when the configuration setting of the host device 110 is set to be a first configuration while the electronic devices 120 and 130 may be arranged for performing a second operation when the configuration setting of the host device 110 is set to be a second configuration. Therefore, the configuration and adjustment unit 118 may use the electronic devices 120 and 130 to perform different operations by adjusting the configuration setting value of the host device 110. The responsive management method will be discussed further in the following paragraphs.
Detail descriptions of the detection of the arrangement sequence and related adjustment processes of the configuration setting will be discussed further in the following paragraphs.
First, in step S402, the detection unit 116 detects the arrangement sequence of the host device 110 and all of the electronic devices 120 and 130 cascaded with the host device 110 and then in step S404, determines whether the arrangement sequence has been changed. If not, the process returns to perform step S402 to continually detect the arrangement sequence of the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130. If the detection unit 116 detects that the arrangement sequence of the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130 has been changed (Yes in step S404), which indicates that the cascaded positions among the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130 has been changed, adjustment of the configuration setting of the system 100 may be required so that the detection unit 116 sends a message to the configuration and adjustment unit 118, wherein the message may include detected current arrangement sequence data. For example, referring to
When receiving the message sent by the detection unit 116, in step S406, the configuration and adjustment unit 118 adjusts related system configuration setting values according to the detected current arrangement sequence data of the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130. Wherein, the configuration and adjustment unit 118 adjusts related system configuration setting values may comprise, for example, adjust responsive system hardware setting value, activate responsive software applications, activate/install responsive drivers, display responsive user interface and so on, but the invention is not limited thereto.
In some embodiments, the host device 110 may further comprise a table which records a plurality of predefined arrangement sequences and responsive configuration settings and that the configuration and adjustment unit 118 adjusts the related system configuration setting values according to the current arrangement sequence data detected by the detection unit 116 is performed by finding a configuration setting corresponding to the current arrangement data from the table by table lookup with the current arrangement data as an index and then automatically adjust the system configuration to the found configuration setting. In some embodiments, the host device 110 may further provide a user interface (not shown) for the user such that the user may revise, configure or select from the table the responsive configuration setting of each arrangement sequence in advance via the user interface.
Because the configuration and adjustment unit 118 can automatically adjust responsive configuration setting according to different arrangement sequence detected, manual modification of related configuration setting is not needed by the user. Moreover, the user may intuitively recognize the way that the electronic devices 120 and 130 are currently being utilized according to the arrangement sequence among the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130 or the user may assign the way that the electronic devices 120 and 130 are being utilized by cascading/arranging the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130 in a specific arrangement sequence, thereby increasing the fun for use and practicability for the user.
In addition, as the detection unit 116 will continually detect the arrangement sequence of the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130, the configuration and adjustment unit 118 can also restore to the original system configuration setting automatically if the arrangement sequence is changed back to the original arrangement sequence.
In some embodiments, the detection unit 116 may further determine whether the arrangement sequence of the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130 has been changed by determining whether the electronic devices 120 and 130 are disposed on the same side or opposite sides of the host device 110. For example, when the arrangement of the electronic devices 120 and 130 are changed from disposed on the same side (e.g. both on the left side or the right side of the host devices) to deposed on the left side and the right side of the host device 110 respectively, the detection unit 116 determines that arrangement sequence of the host device 110 and the electronic devices 120 and 130 has been changed.
For explanation, specific arrangement sequences and operations of management methods are illustrated as examples in this embodiment, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is not limited thereto.
In the following embodiments, the electronic devices 120 and 130 may perform at least a first operation and a second operation and the configuration and adjustment unit 118 adjusts the configuration setting of the host device 110 to a first configuration according to a first arrangement sequence (as shown in
In the first embodiment, the electronic devices 120 and 130 are hard discs HDA and HDB respectively. Please refer to
In the second embodiment, the electronic devices 120 and 130 are memory MA and memory MB respectively. Please Refer to
In the third embodiment, the electronic device 120 is the hard disc HDA while the electronic device is the WIFI communication module WI. Please Refer to
Therefore, the electronic systems and related management methods of the invention can detect the arrangement sequence of all hardware electronic devices linked to the host device in the electronic system, and can automatically, in accordance with corresponding arranged position of connection of external electronic devices, modify software settings of connected electronic device, or activate new software application generated in accordance with the connection sequence, thereby not only complexity of software settings can be reduced, but also new software allocation can be generated through reuse of the same hardware device, and thus greatly enhance fun for use and hardware flexibility of the electronic system, further meet use requirement for the user and enhance use willingness of the user. Moreover, the user can intuitively understand system software settings through the visual appearance of hardware arrangement sequence and thus the electronic system can be flexibly used to perform various operations.
Management methods, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of a program code (i.e., executable instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMS, hard drives, or any other machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine thereby becomes an apparatus for practicing the methods. The methods may also be embodied in the form of a program code transmitted over some transmission medium, such as electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via any other form of transmission, wherein, when the program code is received and loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the disclosed methods. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the program code combines with the processor to provide a unique apparatus that operates analogously to application specific logic circuits.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those who are skilled in this technology can still make various alterations and modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention shall be defined and protected by the following claims and their equivalent.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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100138221 | Oct 2011 | TW | national |